I’m done with sidequests for now, so it’s back to Berylbrine to advance the plot. Time for more flavor text!

Yes, how dare the mentally ill person inconvenience people by exhibiting odd behavior. How inconsiderate.

Oh, screw you.

This sounds like a more sympathetic tone to me, and provides more information than just him being a LAZY LAZY SLACKER. The narrator doesn’t seem to like Kidra very much.

Since they both share that thick Nalian accent, they understand each other easily. It’s almost like a second language to some.

This is better. Less focus on how she’s lazy and more focus on the friendships in the guild, plus a tidbit about Nal. Notice also how pointing out her personal flaws sounds more like a lighthearted poke than a cruel jab when it’s not the centerpiece.

I cannot interact with this person, despite them having a clear label. Maybe she gives a quest later.

Every once in a while, the noise of the camp will be interrupted by a sharp twang of his bow string. He’s oblivious, of course.

So I see Fero is now a zombie possessed by his demon bow. He will be missed.

This is much better than previous descriptions. Notice how she is doing something that actually implies an intelligence in there instead of acting like a lobotomized puppy. Also what I hope is foreshadowing and not writing fail – there is no such thing as “hollow curiosity”.

He is unaware that this table is for another use altogether, but the workers are too terrified of him to try to intervene.

Okay.

Oh look, we finally found another guild! I mean obviously he’s in a guild, how else would he get here when no one else is allowed on a ship?

I suppose you could say that the guild-only rule only started after these guys got here, but then why do it in the first place? Are these people being funded by the government, which has decided to throttle all competition because evil communists? Can they receive new labor and supplies from the government, or are the guilds all they’ve got? Are they simply from Nal? This kind of nonsense is what happens when you make your heroes the center of the universe for no reason.

With new contributions from guilds that have explored the area, it seems they have quite a bit of work to do to get caught up.

The mysteriously invisible guilds.

Just in case you ever doubted that he was a being of purity and light.

There are some too uninitiated to be treated lightly, and they may become confused or suspicious by certain normally-kind actions.

Yes, he’s so enlightened and progressive that he knows when to be nice (never) and when to blow their faces off (always). What a nice man.

Huh. Character development occurs in the most unlikely places in this game.

He does not, however, have aversions to whining about Dehl’s inability to sweat too. It’s unfair to not be miserable here, he thinks.

Yay physiology actually having an impact. Although if Dehl’s warm-blooded he should be panting like a dog and he…isn’t. Magic, I guess.

Of course, he retains his stoic, professional image all the same, and would never admit to being frightened to any degree.

Looks like Ques’ professional image will be picked apart quite thoroughly now that he’s at the mercy of the omniscient narrator.

Oh Dehl, haven’t you learned that horrible things always happen when you’re bright-eyed and optimistic?

And Brenetto has a quest for me. Metsueno was his mentor so, like everyone related to Metsueno, he is more broken up about his death than Qualstio. Metsueno gave him a mysterious magical pendant coil thing and I have to “charge” it by getting the chain to 50.

Qualstio: “What do you mean by ‘charging’ it?”
Brenetto: “You recall how my previous devices would respond to certain magical fluxes nearby? I’ve a feeling that this spring will unlock something fantastic at its maximum level!”
Qualstio: “And what’s its maximum level, or whatever?”
Brenetto: “Well, by my calculations, it will reach its full storage after fifty matching pulses.”

It is amazing what hoops the game jumps through to couch gameplay mechanics in story terms. Now if only it could direct that effort towards actual worldbuilding.

As always, Santes is the victim of environmental discomfort.

Zargos, meanwhile, is actually doing something, because it’s women’s job to stand in one place moaning at the indignity of their circumstances while the men do all the work.

Oh I’m sorry, women can do things, as long as those things are meaningless busywork.

What’s even the point of bringing this up? Either she knows it’s an easy job and is being lazy, or she doesn’t and is just trying her best. Either way, the narrator is a dick for bringing it up. It does nothing but invalidate her effort and insult her intelligence.

Anyone who thinks gender inequality in media is a myth needs only look at this. Lani and Zargos are both strong, tough laborers, equally capable of doing the same jobs. Zargos is gets the important job, is praised for his work, and his rest is seen as necessary and well-earned. Lani gets a pointless job and a snide remark. Stay in the kitchen, girls. And, now that I say that, I notice that the chef is the only woman in the camp…

Five updates in, we’re finally starting our first storyline quest! Hooray.

It’s mating season for slimeflies (the bugs that attacked Moke) and I need to destroy their eggs lest they overrun the camp. This is accomplished by dumping poison into lakes that already had tree-killing poison dumped into them. That definitely won’t come back to bite anyone. Also we learn Moke has a crippling insect phobia.

Moke explains the very complicated process of pouring liquids into other liquids. Then he runs off screaming. If you’re evil, it is entirely possible to include him in your party and force him to come along. I won’t be doing that.

“But don’t worry, I’m sure pouring it into the water supply will have no negative repercussions whatsoever!”

“A shame to have to sacrifice the trees to save our own selves, wouldn’t you agree? But, it was an order from Yacatec, and none of us would dare to argue with him.” Yay foreshadowing and nice people.

That really does not seem like a good thing. If it’s seeping out of the barrel that means it’s seeping onto you, and it kills everything it comes in contact with, remember? Would have made more sense for these to be metal drums or something.

Oh, so touching the wood permanently stained toxic green is totally safe, as long as you don’t carry multiple ones at the same time. Of course. (Plus they have six people so it’s not like one person has to carry all three…)

These things are pretty cool. I’ll show you –

o_O

If that encounter was randomized it really shouldn’t have been.

There are a lot of bugs flying around in circles. Evading them can be difficult, as they’re often faster than you and can move in unusual patterns. They make a good obstacle, and maneuvering around them can be fun, even though it doesn’t make perfect sense that they’d fly in the same exact pattern over and over.

some of the thought snippets are really silly but I still like them okay

Yeah, that doesn’t look like it might cause problems at all. Nothing to see here.

Sorry, you were blocking the only way through! Blame impassible tiles!

Anyway, these are snapvines, sentient vines (or something). The thought snippet is mostly accurate; they’re completely stationary on the map so you really have to run into them on purpose. Of course, that means the game loves to use them to block important spots, like here.

And here I forgot to go back for the poison, derp.

Alito: “Masters of Ilganyag, you have earned Rank 17! Few others can say the same!”

Only 17 and I’m already in an exclusive elite club? That’s barely more than halfway to the max. It also doesn’t mean much, because we barely see other guilds and no one but the managers seem to care about rank. Seeing more guilds and their ranks would give me a greater sense of scale here.

“I have a good feeling that the poison will do its job this time. I sure hope so, anyway.”

“Because if it doesn’t, we’ll all die!”

It does strike me as weird that their response to the poison not working was to try a bigger hammer rather than look for a different approach. How do they know the eggs won’t resist this one too? Come to think of it, it’d be nice if Moke had more direct involvement, maybe designing the new poison himself. It’d make the protagonists’ involvement a bit less passive, which is something the story could really use.

A new guy approaches.

Qualstio greets him coldly, probably because his sue powers activated and he Just Knows he’s a bad guy. His name is Yacatec Yutli.

Yacatec: “[This hat] keeps the bugs out of my eyes, D’an. Would you and your friends like one too?”

He’s nice, you see. That means he’s evil.

I mean, yes, it makes sense that the suave businessman would act charming, especially to the guilds. But Qualstio has no reason to suspect him at this point. He knows nothing about him, yet his first reaction is terse and suspicious. And wasn’t he the one saying how there couldn’t possibly be a trafficking industry going on and everything here was great and wonderful? Why does he hate this guy from the outset? The explanation I’m left with is simply because he’s evil, and Qualstio Just Knows these things.

I suppose a more charitable explanation could be that Qualstio has become extremely paranoid after Fortifel (see also the Rehm situation), which would be understandable but in that case it’d be really nice for him to be wrong sometimes, or at least called out on it. It should be a character flaw, not clairvoyance. Paranoia so intense that you are constantly defensive and assume the worst of everyone you meet is a sign of a deeply troubled individual and should be treated as such.

It’s also possible the developer wanted to foreshadow Yactec’s unscrupulousness by having a dissenter here, but if so it’s incredibly hamhanded. Not only does Qualstio have no logical reason for suspicion other than that the author knows he should, it’s completely unnecessary. All it does is ruin the surprise and for gods’ sakes the reveal is coming up literally next quest, can’t the game wait that long?

There’s just no reason for this. All it does is make Qualstio even more of an unlikeable sue.

(Meanwhile Dehl, who has every reason to be suspicious, falls for it hook, line, and sinker. This is why Dehl is a better character.)

Tehgonan’s also suspicious because “He sounded awfully smooth.” and as we all know, teenage boys are masters of social nuance. This demonstrates another toxic aspect of this depiction: it makes it seem like con men and sociopaths are so easily seen through that even little kids can do it, and that’s simply not true. Unless you’re an incredibly talented communicator, you’re not going to Just Know there’s something off about those kinds of people – they make a living off of fooling that sense, after all. And talented communicators these people aren’t (no, not even you, Qualstio); they’re deeply disturbed and dysfunctional individuals. They should all be totally blindsided by Yacatec using them.

Dehl: “Let us save our reservations for after we have served him for some time, yes?”

Thank you, Dehl.

So this quest was pretty fillerish. In gameplay terms it was good because it introduces us to the area’s basic enemies (something the next quest can’t do), but it really doesn’t contribute anything to the plot. Yacatec could have been introduced earlier, and the plot events of this quest and the next one could easily be rolled together. Maybe if the next quest had more of a combat element, of if this quest was changed to be a different but still plot-relevant job for Yacatec, it’d work better.

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